Monthly Archives: October 2012

Denton, N.C. — The State Health Department has confirmed the death of Effie Shaw in Davidson County is related to the national outbreak of fungal meningitis, which has been linked to the New England Compounding Center’s tainted steroid shots in as many as 16 states. This is the first death in NC linked to the outbreak, but the Health Department reports one other case of fungal meningitis in the state is also connected.

Another victim in NC is still being treated but is no longer hospitalized, according to a Health Department press release issued Saturday.

The New England Compounding Center terminated production and recalled all products in early October, including these steroid injections.

285 reported cases of fungal meningitis are connected to the outbreak, according to the CDC. The death count remains at 23.

U.S. health officials said 2 more drugs from a pharmacy linked to the recent 2012 meningitis outbreak are now being investigated. Doctors have been urged to contact patients who got any kind of injection from the New England Compounding Center of Framingham, Massachusetts. This specialty pharmacy is under scrutiny since rare fungal form of meningitis was linked to its steroid shots used mostly for back pain.

The Food and Drug Administration is investigating a report of a meningitis illness in a patient who got another type of steroid also made by the New England Compounding Center. This one concerns two heart transplant patients who contracted fungal infections after being given a third product from the company during surgery. The FDA cautioned they did not say whether fungal meningitis was involved in the new report.

Currently the outbreak has infected 214 people. Fifteen have died. If you or someone you know was injected with the company's steroid methylprednisolone acetate, then see your doctor immediatelyand take any meningitis symptoms seriously.

A class action lawsuit has begun in this matter. If you or someone you know was affected by this infection recently, contact Sanders Law Firm, PLLC (336)724-4707 to discuss the products liability claim and your legal rights.

The steroid was recalled last month, and New England Compounding Center has shut down operations and recalled all the medicines it makes.

The FDA on Monday expanded its advice "out of an abundance of caution" as it investigates the new reports involving the heart surgery drug and the second steroid, called triamcinolone acetonide.

Last week, federal health officials said 12,000 of the roughly 14,000 people who received steroid shots had been contacted. Nearly all the 214 illnesses are fungal meningitis; two people had joint infections.

Symptoms of meningitis include severe headache, nausea, dizziness and fever. The CDC said many of the cases have been mild. Some infected patients of the steroid had strokes. Symptoms have been appearing between one and four weeks after patients got the shots, but CDC officials on Thursday warned at least one illness occurred 42 days after a shot.

GALVESTON, Texas: A wrongful-death lawsuit has been filed against a driver who has been charged in the deaths of two men. The lawsuit also names the bar accused of selling the driver alcohol. The lawsuit involving the bar is a dram shop lawsuit. While this is in Texas, most states, including North Carolina, impose a duty on the bars and restaurants not to serve visibly intoxicated persons. If they do, and the driver/bar patron injures a third party, then the bar is liable for the damages along with the bar/restaurant. In the Texas lawsuit, Matthew Green Shelton, 27, was charged with two counts of intoxication manslaughter in the April 25 deaths of Steven Louis Hunt, 42, and Joseph Owens, 43, both of Galveston.The pedestrians apparently were walking on the sidewalk with a dog, also killed, at 6:15 p.m. when they were hit by a Red Mitsubishi at 13th Street and Seawall Boulevard, police said. The car, which was headed west, then struck a parked car.

On behalf of Hunt’s relatives, the victims Dallas attorney filed suit Oct. 4 in Galveston’s 122nd District Court against Shelton (the driver) and The Beach Hut (the bar) which is located at 731 Seawall Blvd. The lawsuit accused the bar of selling Shelton drinks even though it was apparent he was intoxicated.

Had a client come to see me about collecting on a judgment. He had an order from the court for the judgment debtors to return specific commercial equipment to him.

However, the debtors are concealing the equipment from the creditor. Sheriff can’t find it. Sheriff turns in the writ of execution unserved. He turns to me.

I got a NCGS 1-352 Examination of the Debtor in court today. We grilled the debtor on the whereabouts. Because the procedure is not used often, the Court was instructed by me on its powers, including power to arrest the debtor if they keep concealing the property. Several of the attorneys in the courtroom approached me later and said they had never seen this kind of hearing.

Getting a judgment for a client is Step One. Actually collecting on a judgment is the Second Step and equally important.

ISSUE: What do you need to do if there is an estate in one county or state and real property held by the decedent in another county?

In the event a person is administering an estate in one county where the decedent died, but the decedent held property in his/her name in another county, one needs to consider an ancillary proceeding in the county or counties where the real property is located. This is necessary for title to pass to the beneficiaries in the estate.

Clerk of Superior Court enters the order of probate, the title to real estate devised in the will passes (and relates back to the death of the testator NCGS 28A-15-2(b)). The probated will thereafter constitutes a link in the chain of title.

Pursuant to NCGS 28A-2A-17 (formerly NCGS 31-27), (1) a certified copy of the foreign will and the relevant probate proceeding may be presented to the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the decedent owned real property. Then (2) the Clerk of Superior Court enters the order of probate, the title to real estate devised in the will passes (and relates back to the death of the testator NCGS 28A-15-2(b)). The probated will thereafter constitutes a link in the chain of title.

It’s a two step process so that the administrator of the estate not only files the certified copy of the will but gets the Clerk of that county where the real property is located to enter an order of probate.

If the order is not entered then it extends the life where someone could file a caveat concerning that real property. This happened where an out of state will was filed in the county where the real property was located, but no Order of Probate was entered.

Probate (proh-bayt), n. 1. The judicial procedure by which a testamentary document is established to be a valid will; the proving of a will to the satisfaction of the court.